Standard Chartered Hired 2,000 Compliance and Legal Staff in 3 Years

However, Standard Chartered's chief financial officer Richard Meddings says headcount is down by about 2,000 from a year ago. (Photo: Reuters)

Standard Chartered has hired around 2,000 people to work in compliance and legal functions over the last three years despite paring back on its employee headcount overall.

Speaking on an investor's call, following Standard Chartered's interim management statement, the bank's chief financial officer Richard Meddings also revealed that overall headcount has actually fallen by 2,000 from a year ago, as it aims to manage costs.

Meanwhile the bank, which makes more than 90% of its profits in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, was forced to strengthen its compliance provisions after the bank was found by regulators to have hidden at least a quarter of a trillion US dollars' worth of transactions linked to Iran, which is subject to stringent US sanctions.

Standard Chartered was also ordered to install a money-laundering risk controls monitor team for a term of at least two years and who will also have to report directly to DFS.

The bank was also ordered to place DFS examiners on site permanently and install personnel within its New York branch to oversee and audit any offshore money-laundering due diligence and monitoring undertaken by the Bank.

According to the UK-listed bank's latest trading update, revenue in the first three months to September dropped by a "low single-digit percentage," as weakness in emerging market currencies weighed heavily on its balance sheet.

Meddings, said Standard Chartered didn't expect to reach its target of at least 10% revenue growth this year.